The first edition of our Proud of our Black History booklet for primary and secondary schools was published in October 2021.
In October 2023, we published a second edition of Proud of our Black History.
It serves as a useful introduction to the work H&F Council has done to promote its Black history. And helps explain to people of all ages about what makes the diversity of H&F so special.
Praise for our educational booklet:
Michael Ohajuru
I was delighted to read my copy of Proud of Our Black History from Hammersmith & Fulham Council as it gave a lively, refreshing version of the Black presence in the London borough and its connections with local and national history.
Not just a list of notable Black figures who had lived in the community but Proud of Our Black History gives those figures context of the longer, wider history of the Black presence in not just Hammersmith & Fulham but Britain, at the same time it is not afraid to mention the darker side of that history through the boroughs' association with slavery.
It also gives a sense of the history of the community not just through its people but its buildings. What was particularly interesting for me was the Family Tree page encouraging children to create their family tree through asking their parents.
I've been asked many times by parents how they should teach Black British history. I encourage them to start with their own family tree asking how and why they came to the community, who are their relatives, where they are and why are they there? Tracing the Family tree back as far as possible.
That's Black history, connecting children with their family, their family with the community, untimely with Britain - that's Black British history in action as seen in Proud of Our Black History.
Michael Ohajuru, Fellow of Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Robin Walker
The book is an interesting and thought-provoking introduction to the Black history in the local area of Hammersmith & Fulham.
Primary schools could use it to give the pupils a good introduction to the heritage in this locality, as required by the National Curriculum in History, Key Stage 1.
The book presents the historical data in easily digestible bite-sized pieces. Outside of history, the book builds vocabulary and would thus be suitable for individual or whole class reading throughout Primary School, not just Key Stage 1.
As teaching material, I commend the researchers who put this valuable resource together.
Excellent read.
Robin Walker, author of The Black History Man
Avril Nanton
I thought it was amazing!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading through all the different people that were mentioned. In fact, it made me feel as though I wanted to put a walk together to incorporate some of these people around Hammersmith.
As you know, I don't have a Hammersmith walk as yet and I think the information on the website will be excellent to help me with doing that. Admittedly, most of the people mentioned I've heard off but there are lots that I haven't heard off and the information about the buildings and places is fantastic.
Well done to the archivists who put this all together. It's hard work putting together this type of information so I tip my hat to them. They have been very thorough and what this does is to help people explore more to learn more.
It's so important that Black history is archived and curated for future generations so they have something to learn from because we can't all be there at the time! This kind of information is important for people to learn from.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention and watch out for a walk coming your way next year!
Avril Nanton, Black cultural tour operator and author of Black London
